MMGreen
The True Friends of the Earth
بسم اللّٰہ الرحمٰن الرحیم
This article has been written to highlight the harmful effects not just on the Earth that we live in, but also the effect on ourselves. Please take a moment to contemplate the true message behind the advertisements on TV, newspapers and magazines after reading this post.
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The media seems to be plagued with environmental buzz words such as ‘global warming’ and ‘carbon footprint’. These words seem to be giving us a warning, but do we really know what they mean?
When issues pertaining to the environment are mentioned to us, do we stop to ponder over them or do we continue with our daily routine oblivious to what is going on in the world? Does the environment have any Islamic relevance at all?
As Muslims, we acknowledge our obligations to our Creator, Allah; to our spouse, our families, our relatives and our community. But have we ever contemplated our duties towards the finer details of Allah’s Creation?
Although this Earth is a temporary abode for Muslims, it is also a gift and a trust to us from Allah. We must remember this before we decide to throw that cola can on the kerbside, or throw that glass bottle into the conventional waste bin instead of the recycling one.
‘It is He who has appointed you as viceroys in the earth.’ [Qur’an – 6:165]
It is clear from the above verse that Allah (subhana wa ta’ala) has appointed mankind as guardians of this earth and therefore we must take every step with this responsibility in mind. We are accountable for everything we subject to the Earth and its helpless creatures. We need to ask ourselves whether we take these actions seriously at all.
There is a clear media driven push to make us all ‘environmentally friendly’. However, are our antagonistic activities towards the environment a disease, or are they merely symptoms of a wider pathological process?
Perhaps the best way to approach this problem is by observing it from a medical point of view.
Below are a handful of environmental symptoms:
- Global warming/Climate change – An increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s air and oceans and therefore the overall climate. This is a result of the continuous incineration of household waste and fuels.
- Overflowing landfills – Households are constantly disposing reusable waste as conventional rubbish.
- Deforestation – Large amounts of forest around the world have been cleared to provide new land for farming and agriculture in order to meet the growing demands of food companies.
- Pollution – This is a direct result of incineration of household waste and fuels, as well as dumping of chemicals and pesticides into the sea which further add to the eventual outcome: global warming.
- Exposure to radioactive waste and toxic chemicals from nuclear power – Due to the continuous dumping of waste and chemicals deep into the ground, our food and water will become contaminated and hazardous to consume.
The list of our effects on the earth and its inhabitants is endless.
But just as every patient has a deep-rooted cause for their multiple symptoms, so does the Earth on which we tread. A patient suffering from a brain tumour would initially suffer from headaches. Imagine if this patient went to their doctor complaining of a headache, and the doctor gave the patient painkillers without investigating the cause of the patient’s headache? The consequences would certainly be fatal. Perhaps environmental charities are also guilty of something similar, whereby they are treating the symptoms without treating the main cause.
One might ask, what is the main cause? The answer – consumerism. 
Like a brain tumour, consumerism is like a cancer on the Earth as it has spread to the far reaches of the world taking over the hearts and minds of many people like a wolf in sheep’s clothing. We fail to realise how little we can survive on when push comes to shove and yet we feel that we ‘have to have’ the latest smartphone or we ‘need’ an Audi A4. Consumerism, it seems, has taken over the world.
Or has it?
The government is pushing us all to recycle our waste through the provision of recycling bags by local councils or encouraging us to invest in solar panels and electric cars. But as with the headache analogy, these only treat the symptoms, not the main cause. It is only reducing the production of household waste and finding alternative methods to fuel our high maintenance consumer-driven lives.
In reality, the problem lies in an evermore problematic disease that is rarely acknowledged as our adversary, unless, of course, one is a Muslim.
Mankind, it seems, is suffering from an almost incurable disease. A disease which has spread so far into each and every single one of us that it has blackened our hearts almost to the core. However, if we are not careful enough to protect ourselves with the remembrance of Allah, this disease could destroy us completely.
What could be a bigger cancer than consumerism? Materialism. Attachment to the worldly life.
It’s laughable for one to consider themselves attached to the temporary life of the world, and yet, if we look around us, we can find several examples of the depth of our attachment, ranging from the BMW parked outside our 3-storey home to the plasma TV hanging on the wall down to the latest model of the iPhone snugly tucked away in the pocket of our Versace jeans. Not so funny now, is it?
Unfortunately, Muslims have been engulfed by the fire of materialism…a fire which could lead us to the ultimate Fire. Fortunately, we have a solution better than a thousand government environmental policies.
Islam.
It is through Islam that one of my early questions can be answered. We as Muslims seem to have overlooked a crucial point when we argue that Islam is the truth and applicable to all aspects of life. The environment is one of our strengths, and one of the ways in which we can earn eternal reward by caring for it.
Islam, as a way of life, teaches us as human beings to care for the environment for several reasons. First and foremost, we should look to appreciate and conserve the beauty of Allah’s creation, especially since this creation praises Allah in its own way. By doing so, we will develop an understanding and awareness of our Lord and strengthen in our consciousness of Allah’s Power and Mercy upon us.
‘The seven heavens and the earth, and all beings therein, declare His glory: There is not a thing but celebrates His praise, and yet you understand not how they declare His Glory!’ [Qur’an – 17:44]
Since humans are the ones who have been entrusted with guardianship of the earth, we are the ones who have the ability to look after the environment, as no other creature can. By looking after the creation of our Lord, we are glorifying Him and it is therefore imperative that we make this a part of our daily lives, as opposed to the odd bit of recycling or throwing money at Greenpeace and hoping the problem will go away.
However, the benefits of caring for the environment as Muslims are not only spiritual, but also social.
The Muslim community needs to highlight the principle cause for maltreatment to the environment. Unfortunately, we’re all afflicted by the following situation:
You’re in the middle of reading a newspaper and just as you turn the page, a glossy leaflet from your local supermarket falls out advertising the latest bargains on food that may need. You subconsciously feel that there will be a void in your life if you don’t buy these goods, therefore you decide to pop down to your local supermarket and buy those pastries, plus a whole lot more that you decide you need as well. You come home and put the food away in the cupboard and fridge. As the days progress, you forget about the pastries that you bought once upon a time ago with such a desperate need in mind. Opening the fridge, it seems that not only is the food still there, untouched, but it is also beginning to build its own community in the form of our good friend, mould. Naturally, these groceries must be thrown away into your conventional bin.
From the above example, not only has the household waste been increased and food unnecessarily thrown away, but this person has accrued sin for wasting food and hurting the earth. The money that was spent on this food could have been given away in charity to feed a starving person. The packaging could have been recycled had this person not disposed of it as part of their conventional rubbish. Multiply this scenario by the number of households in the UK alone. A frightening thought.
This demonstrates that we are easily affected by media ploys encouraging us to ‘buy, buy, buy’, possibly as part of a parliamentary scheme to boost the supposedly failing economy. Money makes the world go round, as they say.
A verse from the Qurán defines our nature:
‘The mutual rivalry (for piling up of worldly things) diverts you.’ [Qurán – 102:1]
As Muslims, we are perfectly equipped to protect and conserve the environment due to the fact that we are supposed to be travellers in this world. Therefore, we should take ONLY what we need and nothing beyond that. But, as the verse above goes, we become diverted by consumerism and lose sight of what we are ultimately working towards. Our materialistic habits are not only affecting our efforts for the afterlife, but also the world in which we live.
Since our detachment from the luxuries of the worldly life is such a fundamental principle of Islam, we should be at the forefront of the environmental campaign. We should put this principle at the core of the campaign, showing how important it is that the Muslim community be educated about how essential the protection of the Earth is not only to mankind, but also in Islam.
Coming back to the original headache analogy, we need to find a treatment that will cure the disease rather than merely controlling the symptoms.
It seems that our lifestyles need to be evaluated against what the Quran and Sunnah mention with respect to consumerism and materialism, and what they warn us against. Once we have acknowledged our main problems with regards to our constant expenditure on things we don’t need, we can then begin to educate our community on the importance of caring for the environment.
If one were to combine such a lifestyle with initiatives such as recycling, water conservation and introducing renewable energy, we would certainly lessen our effect on the environment quite significantly.
Our community should embark upon an environmental campaign, and approach the issue from a different angle than everyone else. Our campaign should start off by creating a realisation within the minds of the wider public that we have a tendency to be wasteful in almost every aspect of our lives. We should actively encourage the idea that ‘less is more’. Alongside this, we can join with environmental charities to promote ‘green behaviour’. If we can do this, it would be a successful exhibition of the multi-dimensional nature of our beautiful religion, Islam.
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Sayf
June 9, 2010 at 1:24 AM
Excellent work mash’Allah, a much needed post. May Allah reward you immensely, ameen!
Love the pics!
Hassan
June 9, 2010 at 10:45 AM
Is human Allah’s viceroys in the earth? I need some scholar to comment on it, because in Tafsir ibn Kathir it says the khalaif (in Surah Anaam and Baqrah) is referring to concept of one generation coming after generation.
“And it is He Who has made you generations coming after generations, replacing each other on the earth.) meaning, He made you dwell on the earth generation after generation, century after century and offspring after forefathers”
Please see this link http://tafsir.com/default.asp?sid=6&tid=17409
Bushra
June 9, 2010 at 1:40 PM
Yes, I have read that in Tafsir ibn Kathir too. I have to add though, with all due respect to Imam ibn Kathir (rahimahullah), that Tafsir ibn Kathir isn’t the end-all be-all. It also mentions with respect to a verse in Surah Baqarah that pregnant women do not have to make up their missed fasts from Ramadan (due to pregnancy and breastfeeding) and can just pay a poor person for each day missed, whereas the majority of scholars of today do not hold this opinion and have, in fact, stated that women should make up their missed pregnancy/breastfeeding fasts, due to their condition being similar to that of a temporarily sick person as opposed to a chronic illness.
I think this might be a good read: http://www.islam21c.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=152146:guarding-the-earth&catid=35&Itemid=82
Islam21c fiercely vets every single article submitted, as it is overseen by Shaykh Haitham al-Haddad, and I believe that this article will provide you with further information.
Abd- Allah
June 9, 2010 at 2:31 PM
Well tafsir is different than fiqh. What you mentioned about pregnant women making up their fasts was Ibn Kathir’s own opinion on that fiqhi issue where the scholars have differed, regardless of whether it is a minority or majority opinion because that doesn’t really mean anything, and Ibn Kathir rahimahullah could be right on that ruling while the majority opinion could be wrong. When it comes to tafsir though, Ibn Kathir mentions the meaning linguistically and what the salaf have commented on that verse and mentions any relevant ahadith.
As for the widespread statement that “humans are Allah’s viceroys on earth” then many scholars do object to that as being an incorrect statement. However, that statement is different than saying “humans are viceroys on earth”, and as far as I know the scholars who objected were talking about the first statement, whereas the latter is more accurate. The meanings of the two statements are not the same, and whereas there is no clear proof for the first statement (ie humans being Allah’s viceroys), but the second statement goes hand in hand with what Ibn Kathir rahimahullah mentioned in his tafsir about that verse, and Allah knows best.
Bushra
June 9, 2010 at 3:14 PM
Point taken.
Having said all that, I haven’t mentioned anywhere that humans are Allah’s viceroys, as I don’t believe in that statement myself. We are all slaves of Allah (swt).
What I have said (in both articles) is that ‘viceroy’ implies guardianship of the Earth, as Allah(swt) has chosen us and appointed us above all other creation, but as with all things being ‘chosen’, there comes a degree of responsibility and that’s the point I’m making.
Muslims are the ambassadors of Islam and therefore responsible for all their actions.
tuwaylib
June 9, 2010 at 10:47 AM
masha allah, good read and an important reminder. However, it would have really hit the spot if more proof from the quran and sunnah were mentioned, in relation to conservation and taking care of the earth
wa jazaki allahu khairan
Bushra
June 9, 2010 at 1:44 PM
tuwaylib, please see the link I have posted in reply to Br. Hassan above. I wanted to add so many more ahadith and verses from the Qurán but I was worried that the article may lose track of the point I wanted to make.
Abez
June 9, 2010 at 11:41 AM
“O children of Adam, take your adornment at every masjid, and eat and drink, but be not excessive. Indeed, He likes not those who commit excess.”
-Surah Al Araaf, v. 31
Ify Okoye
June 9, 2010 at 2:15 PM
It’s interesting how being “green” is sometimes seen as something new. Caring for the environment, recycling, and being thankful for the blessings within the earth seem to be at the heart of what it is to be a responsible human being and certainly from the core message of our religion. Keep up the good work.
elham
June 9, 2010 at 2:45 PM
I seek refuge in Allah from the accursed shaytan:
”And remember Moses prayed for water for his people; We said: “Strike the rock with thy staff.” Then gushed forth therefrom twelve springs. Each group knew its own place for water. So eat and drink of the sustenance provided by God, and do no evil nor mischief on the (face of the) earth.” (Baqarah,v.60)
”And remember ye said: “O Moses! we cannot endure one kind of food (always); so beseech thy Lord for us to produce for us of what the earth groweth, -its pot-herbs, and cucumbers, Its garlic, lentils, and onions.” He said: “Will ye exchange the better for the worse? Go ye down to any town, and ye shall find what ye want!” They were covered with humiliation and misery; they drew on themselves the wrath of God. This because they went on rejecting the Signs of God and slaying His Messengers without just cause. This because they rebelled and went on transgressing.” (Baqarah,v.61)
Hebah Ahmed
June 9, 2010 at 9:11 PM
Masha Allah this is an excellent article. After weeping over the pictures from the Gulf, I am even more committed to becoming oil independent, at least within my family Insha Allah. We already compost, recycle, heat our home totally with a pellet stove, and eat local, natural, and organic. Insha Allah we plan to install solar and wind power to supply our electricity when we save enough. Unfortunately many of my fellow Muslims laugh at us.
We tried to put recycling bins in the masjid (clearly labeled) and instead got cans full of trash. We’ve had seminars at the masjid, featured eco-friendly documentaries, and even had a board member pursue rooftop solar panels but still cannot seem to change the tide. May Allah open the hearts of the Ummah Insha Allah.
My husband (a revert) said that at his childhood church pot lucks, everyone brought their own plates and utensils, ate on them, and then took them home to wash. This saved countless disposable plates and accessories. Can we visualize a time when our masajid pursue a similiar plan during Ramadan?????
I hope that the sheook in Al Maghrib and on the lecture circuits become more educated on this and start incorporating it into their talks so that the tide will begin to change Insha Allah.
Amatullah
June 10, 2010 at 7:52 AM
subhanAllah sis Hebah, I remember the same thing happening at an Islamic class…The recycling bins were packed with trash, nearly overflowing. It was a sad sight.
Abd- Allah
June 10, 2010 at 2:29 PM
I do agree sister Hebah that if the shuyukh take the lead with such initiatives then that will encourage many people to follow them.
SubhanAllah, even many years back Shaykh al-Albani rahimahullah designed himself a device that would heat water for his house by using the solar energy! The Shaykh had installed that device on the roof of his house years before anyone was talking about solar energy and before solar panels were even readily available for people to use.
Bushra
June 10, 2010 at 4:15 PM
Everytime I’ve attended an Al Maghrib/ Al Kauthar event in the UK, I’ve seen recycling bags. No one fills them up with rubbish. But then perhaps it depends on everybody’s mentality.
I do find that some of the back home mentality has overflowed here, mainly because everyone just chucks everything into the street over there. It’s normal. So they think it’s perfectly fine to chuck a plastic cup or food into a paper recycling bag.
Amatullah
June 11, 2010 at 6:54 AM
eh, tell me about it :( It’s so dirty here in Egypt, it makes my stomach turn. Allahul Musta’aan.
Mumin
June 9, 2010 at 9:18 PM
How did this sites slogan go from”Because Muslims Matter” to “Intercourse in the Intellectual Traditions”??????
Abd- Allah
June 9, 2010 at 9:21 PM
I’d say probably because of global warming. If not, then blame it on the oil spill, that sounds reasonable.
Amad
June 10, 2010 at 12:31 AM
huh?
Slave of the Most Lovin One
June 9, 2010 at 11:06 PM
Salam wrt wbrt dear! :)
@sister Bushra: MASHALLAH TABARAKALLAH!! 10 stars for ur article- 5 for the topic and 5 for the contents!
@Mumin: WHAT DO U MEAN???
Slave of the Most Lovin One
June 10, 2010 at 3:32 AM
* dear Bushra
Bushra
June 10, 2010 at 4:17 PM
Jazakallahu khair, sis (I’m assuming you’re a sister. I’d be very worried if you were a brother :-D )
Amatul Wadood
June 10, 2010 at 11:27 PM
lol…u r on the safe side ukhti…im a sister :D
Hebah Ahmed
June 10, 2010 at 8:25 AM
Sad that the pray in movement gets a bazillion responses and HUGE discussions and this gets a couple of nods! Can we start talking about how to put this article into action and have a similarly lively debate with practicial ideas and committments at least from individuals on this forum? Can this become our passion?
What are you going to do to begin the change?
Abd- Allah
June 10, 2010 at 1:18 PM
Well if only we can have the pray-in movement add this as one of their goals. lol
Bushra
June 10, 2010 at 3:54 PM
Yes it is sad. Unfortunately, it has been the case with all my posts so far, because I prefer to stay away from writing about anything political.
To answer your question, something about this has already been brought up by Mercy Mission (if you read my article entitled ‘Just Go Do It’ on here, you can find out about Mercy Mission).
They are mainly based in Australia, and have already begun a water conservation programme over there called ZamZam. It shouldn’t be too hard to bring something like that to the UK, US and Canada, but it will require funding and manpower. I would have no problem to try and get something like this moving, insha’Allah.
But the first place to start is from yourselves too. Set yourself as an example to your family by recycling and conserving water and teach your family its importance so that these habits can then be passed onto others.
Amad
June 11, 2010 at 5:15 AM
Lack of 300 comments doesn’t invalidate a posts’ value.
In fact, some of the best posts on MM, the most thoughtful and thought-provoking received less comments because they are more palatable and people have a hard time taking positions against them in many cases. For instance, the posts on the very important topic of sexual molestation of children was less than popular (comment-wise) but still critical.
I think when Muslims take up “cutting-edge” issues such as going green, we step up and say that we are global citizens and our opinions matter. This is critical and we need to more of this.
jazakallahkhair for a great post!
Amatullah
June 11, 2010 at 6:47 AM
ya ukhti Bushra, I’ve been a writer for MM for more than a year now alhamdulillah and I’ve learned that comments are basically a means for discussion. I probably have the least commented posts on the site, but just remember that they don’t reflect how many people benefited or read your article, so don’t worry about the number :)
I always say: silence means approval hehe. :)
may Allah accept our efforts and deeds.
Farhan
June 10, 2010 at 12:51 PM
as-salaam ‘alaykum wa rahmat Allahi,
Allow me to take a slightly different approach. I agree with you that we need to encourage the protection of the Earth, but I am not entirely sure I agree with you on how to do it.
In Economics, we learn that in order for an economy to prosper well, we need a few things: A) Peace, B) Freedom, C) Justice, D) Property-Rights.
By Property-Rights, I mean your right to do with your property as you wish and the right to be free from actions of others. This is perhaps one of the biggest points in environmental economics. Lets suppose you own your house and the land it resides on. No one can come by and just dump garbage on your land. It is your property. Doing so would infringe on your property rights and you could either sue them or have them arrested.
Thus, if there is an area of land that we want to protect, one of the best ways to do so is to establish clear, defined property rights on that land. Anyone who pollutes on that land is now violating your rights and is liable.
Excessive consumerism is indeed a bad thing. I more look at consumerism from the perspective of its effects on the heart, but you are right, its bad for the environment too. But, is the best way to prevent its effects on the environment through laws, regulations, taxes, etc? I would disagree. I think one of the problems is the lack of established property rights. If you can pollute and pollute all you want on a plot of land no one ‘owns’, no one cares about it and it goes to waste. But conversely, if someone buys a plot of land and dedicates it to being a landfill, as long as he does not cause harm to others, THAT’S FINE!!! He can take money from people for their trash-> both parties benefit. One party has money and the other is free from trash.
Here’s where its reallyyyy interesting. As the amount of trash increases, the capacity to take in trash will decrease. Thus, landfill owners will charge people more money. This will put pressure on people not to pollute, because its too expensive. So, they will stop polluting themselves, without having to be told so.
But, one problem with this. Land is non-transient, it stays in 1 place. But, bodies of water are transient. If you pollute in a body of water, the water flows to someone else’s property. It blurs the lines of ownership and makes the entire thing fall apart.
Abd- Allah
June 10, 2010 at 1:30 PM
Well protecting your land from solid wastes is relatively easy, but what can you do about air pollution for example? How are you going to stop that from entering your land or the air space above your land?
Farhan
June 10, 2010 at 1:57 PM
Yah, that falls in line with the ‘bodies of water’ thing I mentioned towards the end. That’s one aspect where property rights fails, because you can’t control that so easily.
So in that sense Air and water are more ‘public goods’, thus they easily get destroyed because ‘no one cares’.
The Qur’an says the wasteful are the brothers of the devils and the Prophet SAAWS said not to be wasteful with water. That seems to solve the problem if applied…
Bushra
June 10, 2010 at 4:12 PM
We probably won’t agree. I mean, people can get fined for littering, IF they’re caught. But I’m speaking about the Muslim community where being caught is always prevalent…caught by Allah(swt). If we can at least create awareness amongst the Muslim leaders, such as the imams and shuyookh by making masjids and Islamic schools green, then that would be a big step forward. This was something that was done in a Muslim community in Israel, and the results were pretty positive.
Abd- Allah
June 10, 2010 at 1:25 PM
The article brings up some important points. I think that the main thing should be reducing our consumption and amount of resources that we waste. SubhanAllah, even for wudu’ we waste so much water than we should, and compared to the amount of water that the Prophet peace be upon him used to use to make wudu’, if we all followed the sunnah and used the same amount of water instead of wasting a lot then we would save gallons and gallons of water a day. So yes, recycling and using other sources of energy are great and should be done, but more importantly is how much we consume primarily and how much resources are we wasting. If we continue to abuse our resources then recycling won’t have much of an effect, so the main focus really should be on wasting less and eliminating the excess from things which we don’t really need. We should start a Back to-the Sunnah movement, that would solve ALL our problems!
Abd- Allah
June 10, 2010 at 2:08 PM
Bushra
June 10, 2010 at 4:07 PM
elham
June 11, 2010 at 1:19 PM
JazakumAllahu Khairan for these important ahadith,but what does it mean to become excessive in dua’?
Bushra
June 12, 2010 at 4:59 AM
Well, it may happen that some might make duá to be in a palace in Jannah with windows made of diamonds, the walls made of gold with a river of milk flowing in front of it and a pear tree on the side. But this way of making duá is what the hadith is referring to, because no-one really knows if they’re going to Jannah or not.
Umar(ra) was one of the people mentioned to enter Paradise and even then he considered himself a hypocrite and would always be in constant fear of committing hypocrisy. And that’s why it’s important that your duás are kept simple, because you’ll never know if you’re going to enter Jannah at all. So asking to be in the highest ranks of Jannah is a nice duá as well as asking to be saved from Hellfire. Also asking to be reunited with your spouse and family in Jannah is a good duá too and above all, a personal duá I like to make is that I am saved from all acts that would lead me to the Hellfire, to be saved from the punishment of the Grave, and to guide us and keep us all on the Straight Path that will lead us to Jannah. Ameen.
Abd- Allah
June 13, 2010 at 10:25 PM
Being excessive in supplication (or i’tida’) also means to transgress the limits and boundaries of what is permissible for you to ask for when making du’a. Some examples of transgressing in du’a are:
1) making a supplication that includes a form of shirk, like making du’a and calling upon anyone besides Allah, that is considered shirk and a form of transgressing the limits.
2) to make du’a and ask Allah for something that is inevitable not to happen, like the disbelievers entering hell fire, so if a person asks Allah not to punish a disbeliever and enter him into heaven, that is a form of transgression in du’a. Or asking that Allah does not resurrect you on the day of judgment is a form of transgressing the limits as well, or asking that none of the Muslims enter hell fire at all, when we know that some of the Muslims who have done major sins and haven’t repented for them then they will be punished in hell for their sins and then after that they will be taken out and allowed to enter heaven, so to ask Allah that none of the Muslims enter hell at all is not permissible.
3) to ask to be the first to enter heaven, while we know that it is Prophet Muhammad peace and blessings be upon him will be the first to enter, so if any other person makes du’a that he wants himself to be the first to enter heaven, then that is considered transgression in du’a.
4) a person making du’a that Allah grants him/her children without them even being married.
5) to make du’a for what you want and say “Allah give me such and such, if you want to”, and there are several ahadith where the Prophet peace be upon him instructed us to make the du’a and be firm and not say “if you wish”. The Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) said: “No one of you should say, ‘O Allah, forgive me if You wish, O Allah, have mercy on me if You wish’; he should be firm in his asking, for Allah cannot be compelled.â€
6) to make du’a for a sin or something that is haram. So if a man is going to the store to buy alcohol, and he is making du’a that the store is open and haven’t closed yet. That is considered transgressing the limits of du’a.
7) yelling or making the du’a in a higher voice than is needed.
8- to make du’a without being humble and as if you don’t really need what you are asking for, like you don’t really care whether your du’a is answered or not.
9) to make du’a and ask to be a prophet or an angel, or to ask to know the unseen or when the day of judgment will be.
10) using excessive words without the need for them and going through the trouble of making the words of the du’a rhyme on purpose all throughout the du’a (unless the words naturally happen to rhyme like some of the du’as mentioned in the ahadith), or going into too much pointless details.
11) singing the du’a or making it sound like it has a tune/melody to it.
There are many more forms of being excessive and transgressing in du’a, but these examples above should be enough to clear this issue up inshAllah.
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Umoja Abdul-Ahad
January 20, 2011 at 10:02 AM
As-Salaamu-Alaikum:
Our organization, PROJECT 2000, INC. is requesting your support in getting the information on your list serve, insha’Allah, about our SPECIALTY LICENSE PLATE. The Legislature in our state,Tennessee, passed a bill that allows us to have a specialty license plate that will exclaim, ” I RECYCLE”. We will employ the plate to continue our ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT, RESEARCH/MANUFACTURING & STEWARDSHIP INITIATIVES.
This is our web site http://www.IRecycleCampaign.org and we must pre-sell 1000 plates inorder for the plates to be manufactured.
We are closing in on the FINISH-LINE and your support will be a GREAT HELP!!!
CHECK OUT OUR WEB SITE & MANY OF YOUR QUESTIONS WILL BE ANSWERED!!!
JazakhuimAllahkarum,
Umoja Abdul-Ahad, Executive Director
PROJECT 2000, INC.
(865)384-8054